SUMMARY & RELEVANCE Recent establishment of the NIH-supported small-molecule screening centers provide an unprecedented opportunity for researchers at academic institutions to identify tool compounds and new therapeutics for diseases. Unfortunately, most neuroscientists lack the expertise and equipment needed to optimize and validate biological assays for high throughput screening (HTS), thus making it extremely difficult for neuroscientists to move their science in a translational direction. The main objective of the Translational Neuroscience Core (formerly called Assay Development Core) is to develop and validate high-throughput compatible assays that could facilitate discovery of new treatments for neurological diseases. Indeed, the key function of this Core is to enable individual investigators to utilize the small molecule library screening facilities available at. UNC and at NIH-funded facilities.